ATLANTA — Listen to Intent: The Tex McIver Case on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher.
In fall of 2016, Dani Jo Carter, a close friend of Tex and Diane McIver spoke publicly for the first time since the tragedy that would change the lives of the couple forever.
Carter had been driving the vehicle the night Diane was shot and killed by a weapon being held by her husband in the back seat.
Around that time, photos showing the inside of the SUV were made available to the public, clearly showing a bullet hole in the seat where Diane had been sitting.
Tex meanwhile was still free, having not been charged for any crime relating to the shooting and insisting it was just an accident. However, that would all change by the end of that year.
In December, Tex announced his plans to sell his wife's collection of clothing, shoes, and jewelry - described at the time as "a fashionista's dream closet."
At that point, there was no murder charge against him. However, the involuntary manslaughter charge he was facing was still a felony - one with a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.
Additionally, Tex also faced a reckless conduct charge, a misdemeanor that accused him of handling a gun in a "careless and reckless manner," endangering the life of his wife.
Then on Dec. 21, over three months after Diane's death, Tex spent his first night in jail, the next day mading his first appearance before a Fulton County judge - on his birthday nonetheless.
The judge granted him a $200,000 bond at the hearing. In addition, Tex would have to wear an ankle monitor and surrender his passport. He's also ordered to avoid contact with any employees where Diane worked and avoid contact with one key eyewitness in the case - Dani Jo Carter.
After 40 hours inside the Fulton County jail, wearing a suit and a freshly-knotted tie, Tex emerged with his attorney.
He spent his holidays as a free man, but without his wife and with the prospect of a court case looming in his future.
Then, in January of 2017, in response to public skepticism and close scrutiny from the media, Tex hired high-profile public relations expert Jeff Dickerson.
Dickerson was known for clients such as Delta Airlines, AT&T, and - ironically - Grady hospital, the very place Tex passed on the way to Emory the night his wife was shot.
The hiring was yet another move by Tex to help control the narrative of the case, to convince the media and the public that he shouldn't be facing charges.
However, that effort seemed to go out the window a few days later with a public public auction of Dianne's collection.
Tex said all the money would go to people his wife left money to in her will, insisting that none would go to his legal bills.
Yet, that didn't stop the Fulton County District Attorney from filing an emergency motion to stop the auction - though that would eventually be denied by a judge with the auction taking place as planned.
By April of that year, an emergency motion was filed to revoke Tex's bond after a search warrant turned up a firearm inside the McIvers' condo.
Tammy Johnson - who was in charge of Diane's estate and had access to the McIver's Buckhead condo - claimed she checked every inch of the space and never saw gun until around that time.
On Friday, April 21, an emergency hearing began, with witnesses revealing that the gun found was owned by Tex's brother. How it ended up in a sock drawer in the condo though was thing of mystery.
The hearing lasted three days and was at time contentious. Tex's defense attorneys argued that their client didn't own glocks (the kind of weapon found) and that his wife was the one who preferred that kind of gun. They also claimed he had no knowledge on how the weapon ended up in the sock drawer.
But at the end of the hearing, the Fulton County judge sided with the prosecution, revoking Tex's bond. The violation of his promotion also landed him behind bars, again.
On the same day, prosecutors also raised the possibility of a secret will, one which they claimed possibly held evidence of a motive in Diane's death. They also indicated that the charges against Tex might increase and the next day, that's exactly what happened.
Four months after the initial charges were filed, Tex found himself facing a new indictment, one that made it clear the Fulton County District Attorney's Office was not buying his detail of events.
Among the charges now; malice murder.
Now, malice murder is not a charge you'll hear about in other states. According to Georgia law, it's committed when a homicide is done with express or implied malice - which itself is defined as "that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof."
On top of that charge was felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during a crime and three counts of influencing witnesses.
The reason for that last one? According to the indictment, that charge involved Tex allegedly telling Carter to tell police she wasn't even in the SUV the night of the murder.
Then, seven months after Diane's death, prosecutors and Tex's defense attorneys begin preparing for a murder trial.
New episodes of "Intent: The Tex McIver Case" drop every Monday starting August 22. Listen on your favorite podcast apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher.